Something Stinks at 52 Broadway

In his paid capacity as UFT President, Michael Mulgrew labels his opponents liars.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by Unity members abusing their elected offices. Still, it’s simply outrageous when they abuse official union communications to support their campaign. Yesterday, I received a color mailer from them that persuaded me of little or nothing. I’m not sure it fared any better with members less partisan than I, as a matter of fact. So perhaps needs must.

Two weeks ago, Michael Mulgrew wrote retirees an email. The overwhelming majority of voting retirees voted against his caucus, yet he has the power to do that. Bennett Fischer, actually elected by us, has no such power. Everything Bennett writes has to go through the Unity Noise Machine, which explicitly prohibits things like, oh, supporting legislation that protects retiree health care.

At the time, I thought I would parody Mulgrew’s letter. After all, it’s largely ridiculous. I’m not at all convinced it will persuade anyone not already planning to support him. Nonetheless, that’s what it’s intended to do. And that intent, in fact, is why the email ought never to have gone out.

Mulgrew’s email was not informative. It was straight-out campaign propaganda.

Unity is battling for its survival. Their biggest threat is ABC, and they have all their various Substack writers popping up out of nowhere and posting nonsense about us on a regular basis. That’s their right. They’re free to ignore the fact that it was Mulgrew who initiated the scheme to dump us into an inferior Medicare Advantage plan. They’re free to ignore the fact that this was concealed from us as we voted for the 2018 contract, and that an inferior health plan for rank and file is on the horizon as well. Mulgrew egregiously misrepresented these plans at the DA as a big nothing with no significant cost shifts. (Try telling that to people with exploding co-pays, or retirees who could be denied doctor-recommended treatment.)

Then he rolled out the MA plan, and said it was the best thing since sliced bread. That plan quickly fell apart, he found a new plan, and announced it was even bester than the best thing since sliced bread. (I don’t know about you, but sliced bread doesn’t make me jump up and down. Give me artisan bread, cut with a real knife, and I might be more enthusiastic. Or, you could give me real Medicare, and stop screwing with what I’ve been promised my entire career.)

Regardless, Mulgrew’s now using his bully pulpit to try to smack down his prime opposition. That’s unacceptable. I understand that he loves being President. I understand that it must be great being accountable to no one, doing whatever you golly gosh darn please, and that he’s working overtime (or at least sometimes) to make sure that continues.

Mulgrew crosses a line when he uses official UFT email to call ABC liars.

If Unity wanted to put out a mailing, as they just did, that’s fine. They can say whatever they wish. After all, they charge their members $125 a year to join the Patronage Cult and be eligible to go on free trips, get nice jobs, and pull in that cool UFT pension on top of the one the city gives you.

A big Unity word is misinformation, and they used it an awful lot when they were hyping Medicare Advantage. I’d read on the UFT Retiree Facebook, when people attacked the plan, “Stop spreading misinformation.” It’s a big Unity buzzword. Any point of view they dispute is misinformation. On the other hand, whatever Mulgrew says is gospel, and ought not to be questioned by anyone.

In an election cycle, Mulgrew can stand up in front of the UFT Delegate Assembly and preach of “shenanigans.” What are shenanigans? Evidently, they are pretty much anything said or done by opponents of Mulgrew. Whatever Unity does is perfectly acceptable. If Unity wants to rig the voting so it’s simple and accessible only at their workplaces and parties, that’s just fine.

His other talking point, if I recall correctly, is that it’s “silly season.” He finds it laughable that anyone would question his power and privilege. Mulgrew runs the UFT by divine selection, evidently, and the notion of his being challenged merits no serious consideration whatsoever.

Mulgrew has no compunctions about preaching partisanship at our Delegate Assembly.

He announces that he is not being political and then launches into overt politics. Rather than discuss the relative merit of his placing ballot boxes at UFT HQ and events, largely populated by the Unity Caucus, he attacks and ridicules our lawyer.

If Unity wanted a fair, accessible election, they’d have enabled remote voting years ago. Instead, they repeatedly contend to be studying the issue. The next best thing to electronic voting would be in person voting in our schools, where we all are, as opposed to UFT HQ, where privileged, invitation-only Unity members are paid to sit (and perhaps even work.)

Mulgrew crossed several lines when he sent that email. He used our official resources to campaign for his caucus. He used union resources to belittle his opponents and accuse them of lying, and we paid him to do that. It would be one thing if he took all those Unity dues and put out messages like these. They could then spout pretty much whatever nonsense they wish.

Instead, Mulgrew took their outlandish campaign assumptions and painted them as The Ten Commandments. My non-Unity opponents are liars, and my Unity treasurer proved it in a presentation she gave. I’m sharing that presentation with you, so you too can accept it without question. It’s okay that she presented my opponent’s work as lies at the Retired Teacher Chapter, at the Delegate Assembly, and in Florida, and it’s okay that I now share it with you as well.

Our dues pay Michael Mulgrew to campaign for Unity, and against member interests.

And yes, he did that as well in his email. Mulgrew asserted that he could not support 1096, which protects retiree health care, because it interfered with the Taylor Law. That’s why, I suppose, our dues pay people to lobby against it.

For those who are unaware, the Taylor Law applies to full-time employees. It’s best known for prohibiting strikes, and for imposing a two-day penalty for every single day employees are out. Here’s a news flash, Mulgrew—Retirees don’t go on strike. How would that even be possible?

Mulgrew further contended that 1096 would interfere with collective bargaining. Here’s another shocker—no one collectively bargains for people who don’t work. UFT retirees have limited voice in union officer elections, but we get no vote at all on collective bargaining agreements. Mulgrew has clearly demonstrated he wants the option to downgrade retiree health care to support his other priorities.

So yes, someone is spreading misinformation, but it’s not us. The fact that Michael Mulgrew is using union resources to campaign goes well beyond “shenanigans.” It’s outright corruption. The fact that he will make outlandish arguments to rationalize his outlandish position is unconscionable, well beyond “silly season.”

Vote for ABC this election season. We will protect retiree health care. We will instruct UFT to lobby for it, instead of against it. Furthermore, we will battle to maintain health care for those in-service as well as non-Medicare retirees.

We will halt the insane practice of giving away our health care in exchange for compensation increases, and we will utilize the Municipal Labor Committee to improve collective bargaining, rather than making insane deals that help no one but our contractual adversaries.